LINE

Text:AAAPrint
Voices

Opinion: EU faces largest migration crisis since WWII

1
2018-06-24 09:33:22CGTN Editor : Zhang Shiyu ECNS App Download

As U.S. President Donald Trump deals with the greatest crisis since he's taken office in dealing with migrants from central America entering the U.S., Europe hasn't necessarily been peaceful either. The EU is facing the largest immigration crisis since WWII, as disagreement is spreading across the continent in regards to how to handle refugees and migrants.

Leaders from 10 European Union member states will meet in Brussels on Sunday to discuss migration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will try to persuade other leaders to further curb immigration and restrict the movement of asylum seekers to keep her ruling coalition from crumbling at home.

"Italy won't be the doormat of Europe"; "Italy only helps Italians." These remarks made by newly-elected Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. He declined two more rescue ships from entering the country last week, the second time in a month this hard-line populist politician has given the cold shoulder to refugees and migrants.

"The new government of Italy is a populist government, and the Five Star Movement has taken this kind of position in anti-immigration. It said it wants to keep all the immigration out of the door of Italy,” said Jiang Shixue, a professor at Institute of Global Studies at Shanghai University told CGTN.

“[The] Italian economy is in terrible shape. Its own people are becoming homeless. So the government said they need money to take care of their own people. Therefore it is quite logical for the new government to keep foreign immigrants out of its door.”

Matteo Salvini is not the only European politician determined to do that. Leaders of the Visegrad Group, formed by Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, have decided they will not be attending an EU mini-summit.

The Hungarian legislature passed a package of laws on Wednesday to bring the punishment for anyone convicted of helping a person who enters the country illegally to up to a year in prison. It also passed a finance bill on Tuesday slapping a 25 percent tax on NGOs suspected of helping migrants.

Leaders of the group said the solidarity of their religion and people will not be sacrificed for outsiders, a consistent stance they have been taking since the crisis started in 2015.

Other leaders are still weighing in.

  

MorePhoto

Most popular in 24h

MoreTop news

MoreVideo

News
Politics
Business
Society
Culture
Military
Sci-tech
Entertainment
Sports
Odd
Features
Biz
Economy
Travel
Travel News
Travel Types
Events
Food
Hotel
Bar & Club
Architecture
Gallery
Photo
CNS Photo
Video
Video
Learning Chinese
Learn About China
Social Chinese
Business Chinese
Buzz Words
Bilingual
Resources
ECNS Wire
Special Coverage
Infographics
Voices
LINE
Back to top Links | About Us | Jobs | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.